WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THE

21st CenturyMarketer

1

Today’s employees are expecting

greater transparency and work flexibility.

While employees might think they

have all the power, companies are now

left looking for a new kind of worker,

balancing the scales within the workplace.

Companies need employees who not

only possess technical skills needed to

perform the duties of the job, but they

also need employees who think creatively,

collaborate and adapt to change.

The Evolution of Marketing Skills With the rise of artificial intelligence and marketing automation,

hard skills are not enough to be considered valuable in the workforce.

Creativity, adaptability and collaboration will always be needed.

Companies are now looking for employees who understand the

story behind the data while being able to create personalized and

on-demand marketing that will be seen in a crowd. While 72 percent

say they can track revenue, only 25 percent are somewhat confident

in their reporting ability, according to a Nielson report2.

The value of particular disciplines will start decreasing as society

moves into the 21st century.

Trends, cultural shifts and customer behaviors are evolving at an alarming rate, which is presenting an opportunity for employees to hold companies to a higher standard.

SOFT SKILLS

WORKFLEXIBILITY

ANTI-HARASSMENT

PAYTRANSPARENCY91% 72% 25% 53%

is one of promiseand opportunities

The EVOLUTION of TECHNOLOGY

for EMPLOYEES

According to Linkedin Talent Trends, 5,000 talent professionals in 35 countries value:

W H AT T O

L O O K F O R

I N T H E

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y

M A R K E T E R

2

W H AT T O

L O O K F O R

I N T H E

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y

M A R K E T E R

2025 Now Change

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning 60% 6% 54%

Neuromarketing / Buyer Behavior 52% 8% 44%

Customer Experience (UX / UI) 66% 35% 31%

Experiential Marketing 39% 15% 23%

Analytics, Data & Insights 71% 52% 19%

Influencer Marketing 33% 21% 12%

Marketing Technology & Operations 41% 33% 8%

Programmatic Buying 22% 16% 7%

eCommerce 24% 22% 2%

Web / App Development 30% 31% -0.4%

Shopper Marketing 6% 8% -3%

Segment Marketing 28% 37% -10%

Telemarketing 0.8% 12% -12%

Market Research 24% 35% -12%

Digital Marketing & Media 52% 73% -21%

Content Marketing 39% 63% -24%

Public Relations / Corporate Communications 15% 44% -29%

Social Media Marketing 34% 66% -32%

Field Marketing & Events 7% 41% -34%

Product Marketing 14% 48% -35%

Generalist Marketing 13% 65% -53%

Other 0.5% 0.5% 0%

The following PREDICTIONS are based on Marketo’s research3.

3

Therefore, the skills in high demand

include creativity, persuasion,

collaboration, adaptability and time

management. The 21st-century

marketer needs to be able to apply

the following into their day-to-day:

• Strategic thinking

• Critical and creative thinking

• Communication

• Influence and persuasion

• Storytelling

Branding

PR

Product Strategy

Product Marketing

Product Management

Business Goals

ROI

Digital Analytics

Content Marketing

Digital Advertising

Social Media Marketing

Conversion Rate Optimization

SEO

Email Marketing

Customer Experience (UX)

Marketing & Sales Collaboration

Media Targeting

Campaign Stack Management

Customer Data Management

Dev. Ops. (Business Acumen)

Apply Data to Action

At the same time, this new

kind of marketer is going to have

to use different kinds of skills,

such as the following:

• Collaboration with key

stakeholders

• Management of cross-

functional workflows

• Ability to persuade and

understand sales-selling

• Capability to create tactics

from strategy

• Proficiency in data to

make decisions

But while the skills needed

have been identified, it isn’t

easy to find them in employees.

Everyone has a unique way

of conceptualizing information,

which is why careful evaluation

is needed to attract this new

kind of marketer.

There has been a move from traditional marketing,

to established hard skills and now to emerging soft skills.

This move makes it harder for companies to understand the types of

employees needed to create a marketing team positioned to succeed.

TraditionalMarketing Established

Hard Skills Emerging Soft Skills

W H AT T O

L O O K F O R

I N T H E

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y

M A R K E T E R

Left brain thinking will still be needed in order to implement

the task. However, marketers need to exercise those creative

muscles by thinking of new paradigms to connect the dots

of our modern world. This will create a marketer who is willing

to take risks and will look for the reason to understand “why.”

According to Daniel H. Pink, the

right brain person will rule the future.

He talks about this in his book titled,

“A Whole New Mind.” Pink believes

that the future belongs to those

whose abilities include art, inventing

and storytelling.

While Pink has a point, the picture he

paints is a lot bigger than the creative.

Marketers must learn left brain tactics

in order to perform right brain tactics.

A complete right and left-brain approach

is imperative because there needs to

be a mix of creative and critical thinking.

The graphic to the right demonstrates

how marketers need to understand

strategy and brand, creative and

persuasive, and operations and data.

The skills in demand are where

Pink makes his point.

4

The types of issues and

challenges arising today include

a massive amount of complexity.

The approach to solving problems

cannot be a linear one, so creative

thinking will become the norm

for many companies as society

moves into the 21st century.

Storytelling is natural for a right brainer.

They are not afraid to capitalize on the

meaning of the story behind a piece of

static data. They will be able to generate

emotion behind their innovation by sharing

stories to demonstrate a new way to

tackle a challenge, thereby connecting

with their audience in a personal way.

The LEFT SIDE of the brain concerns logic, such as science and mathematics. The RIGHT SIDE performs tasks geared towards creativity and the arts.

W H AT T O

L O O K F O R

I N T H E

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y

M A R K E T E R

Left Brain ThinkingRight Brain +

Strategic Product

CreativePersuasive

Ops Data

In Demand Skills

5

Omnichannel marketing is the ability

to personalize across all channels.

This means that marketers need

to understand how an individual

interacts across platforms while

customizing each person’s

experience. Therefore, marketers

must see the bigger picture to

provide a truly innovative experience

to prospects and customers.

Every company should have its own

omnichannel experience and include

key stakeholders, such as product,

marketing, sales and customer

support. Marketing for the 21st

century will include collaboration

across departments to understand

the complete experience a customer

can have with a company.

While artificial intelligence, chatbots

and virtual reality are increasing in

use, marketers must be able to

understand how and why they are

being used in order to incorporate

the soft skills into their day-to-day.

Once marketers know how to think

about data and creatively apply it,

regardless of the technology used,

they will be able to drive revenue

through omnichannel marketing.

Similar to learning analytics, such

as open and click-through rate, a

marketer can apply that knowledge

across multiple technology platforms.

The channels that are being used to

execute the marketing campaigns

will be dominated by high-performing

marketers that are skilled in

answering the “why” and “how.”

These types of marketers are the

true idea drivers and will be the ones

in high demand.

Creativity is difficult to automate,

so it’s extremely valuable. Since

technology evolves at a rapid pace,

marketers must also respond at a

rapid pace. Therefore, the way a

company collaborates will play a

role. The marketer must be able to

make quick decisions, take risks

and leverage strategic thinking to

respond to the demanding needs

of a technological environment.

According to Forbes, IBM found that omnichannel marketers outperform their peers by 20 percent in revenue, profit and market share4. Omnichannel marketing includes a multichannel approach, but it looks at the engagement holistically to provide a good user experience.

Omnichannel MarketingCreativity&

W H AT T O

L O O K F O R

I N T H E

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y

M A R K E T E R

6

Technology has taken work beyond the office. Now employees can conduct their job

duties wherever and whenever they want, which can be good and bad. While flexibility can

improve retention, it can also present problems with collaboration and culture.

Flexibility & AgilityThe Power of

Therefore, companies are adopting

technologies like instant messaging

platforms to meet the demands of

today’s workplace. By

understanding what’s needed to

provide flexibility without sacrificing

collaboration, companies will be

able to create a successful and

agile work environment.

But agility can come in many forms,

as it’s more than providing a flexible

work environment for employees.

Agility is not only expected of the

employer, but it’s also expected of

the employee. An agile and change-

ready worker and organization can

quickly adapt to the changing

circumstances that technology

provides. A company geared toward

agility innovates rapidly and immediately

creates products and services to

meet the needs of customers.

For example, when the economy

was undergoing some changes

in the 1990s and 2000s because

of technology, companies were

reevaluating what was necessary

to balance growing responsibilities.

This was the time when mobile

technology was first introduced.

W H AT T O

L O O K F O R

I N T H E

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y

M A R K E T E R

7

How employees work with

each other and adapt to the

changing needs of the environment

will determine the success of a

company. With technology like

artificial intelligence and marketing

automation, it’s becoming easier

for marketers to focus more on

the strategy and less on the tactics.

Those strategies need to include

an alarming amount of creativity.

This skill is not the ability to create

beautiful art and design; rather,

it’s a skill that incorporates

problem solving into their day-to-

day. This is the time for marketers

to make sense of what is

happening with technology and

their customers while developing

new mindsets and strategies.

Marketing teams need to include

flexible roles and be open to

changing responsibilities. They

need to be empowered to make

quick and calculated decisions

while utilizing creative problem

solving. By looking at what is

needed holistically and seeing

patterns in behavior, a marketer

will be able to understand

what is needed for multichannel

integration and a great

customer experience.

Nokia Corporation was once a market leader and increased 150 percent between 1996 and 2000. And while revenue was up 503 percent, it came at a cost. Managers at Nokia’s main development centers found themselves unable to dedicate time and resources to innovation because of the pressure for short-term results.

Software was taking precedence over hardware, and the management team was struggling to find a response to the changing environment. Nokia and its employees lacked the skills and inclination to engage with this new way of working.

As a result, Nokia began to collapse not because of Apple, Google and Samsung. The company collapsed from within before any of these companies entered the market due to its inability to change in a decisive and committed way5.

An Inability to Change

W H AT T O

L O O K F O R

I N T H E

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y

M A R K E T E R

8

The growth that happened only a

few hundred years ago was on an

entirely different scale than it is now.

Some economists are predicting that

we may be at an even bigger change

compared to the potential profitability

and productivity of the future with

new technology.

Both the first and fourth Industrial

Revolution of today impacted

manufacturing at the beginning.

By substituting technology for

workers, U.S. manufacturing

productivity roughly doubled

between 1995 and 2015. And while

manufacturing output was and is

increasing, employment around

1980 has been declining since

1995. Those whose jobs didn’t

change in the first Industrial

Revolution are about to find

some changes6.

The fourth Industrial Revolution

is going to impact just about

every industry. While jobs will

be impacted, new jobs can be

created because technology

makes new products and services.

According to LinkedIn Talent

Trends, 76 percent of hiring

managers think that the fourth

Industrial Revolution will have

an impact on recruitment7.

Therefore, new skills are required

for employees to stay competitive

in the job market.

Technology will never incorporate

the human element in reaching

an audience on an emotional level.

Creative intelligence is that which

emerges when you combine

intellect with imagination. It

incorporates a capacity to analyze

problems while coming up with

solutions that are truly unique.

This is something that simply

cannot be replaced with technology.

There are many people who worry about the future of the workforce because

of technology. Many economists point out how the Industrial Revolution during the

18th and 19th centuries did not lead to widespread suffering, but it was a tipping point.

Entering the 4th Industrial

Revolution

W H AT T O

L O O K F O R

I N T H E

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y

M A R K E T E R

9

For starters, they can evaluate

a potential employee during

the interview process by asking

behavioral and situational

questions. However, the problem

with focusing on an interview

process for soft skill assessment

is that a candidate can come well-

prepared with rehearsed answers.

There are other, more informative

methods to leverage when

evaluating employees, such

as certifications.

The Online Marketing Certified

Professional (OMCP) certification

verifies if the marketer has up-to-date

knowledge, education and

experience in the industry. The

Online Marketing Certified Associate

(OMCA) certification verifies

knowledge of digital marketing

concepts and demonstrates

understanding of general practices

across marketing disciplines. The

exams for these certifications are

written by industry leaders and

published authors. More than 800

colleges, universities and training

providers teach to OMCP standards

to shape the skills of marketers

entering the workforce.

The organization takes a deep look

at job postings and does extensive

interviewing of hiring managers to

see what’s in demand. They noticed

that while interviewing hiring

managers about hard skills, their

first answer was almost always

about a need for soft skills. The

following is what Michael Stebbins,

chairman of OMCP, put together on

how hiring managers can approach

developing talent.

It can be difficult for companies to evaluate if an employee has soft skills.

In fact, only 41 percent of employers have a formal process to access soft skills1.

So how are companies going to know if a marketer can utilize soft skills

within their day-to-day?

The HARD Move toSoft Skills

W H AT T O

L O O K F O R

I N T H E

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y

M A R K E T E R

10

#1 Digital Analytics

#2 SEO

#3 Digital Advertising

#4 Content Marketing

#5 Social Media Marketing

#6 Conversion Rate Opt.

#7 Email Marketing

#1 Ability to Persuade

#2 Data > Decisions

#3 Writing Skills

#4 Traditional Marketing

#5 People Skills

#6 Strategy > Tactics

#7 Other Hard Skills

Customer Experience (UX)

Marketing Automation

Programmatic (Media Targeting)

Martech (Marketing Stack Management)

Customer Data Management

Dev Ops

Big Data (Dta Sci.) Marketing

Require & TestESTABLISHED HARD SKILLS Interview & Hire

SOFT SKILLS & EXPERIENCE Train & DevelopEMERGING (HARD-TO-FIND) SKILLS

Development ModelTalent

The organization believes that hiring managers should first test and require

established hard skills to make sure the marketer can meet best practices.

For example, what are the basic components of a landing page? What are the functions

of a content management system? Then, companies should hire for experience and soft

skills. The emerging hard skills are what they should train and develop. W H AT T O

L O O K F O R

I N T H E

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y

M A R K E T E R

11

Training is the new competitive

advantage for employees and

employers. Now that the market

provides digital marketing courses,

training has become increasingly

important. When a company has

OMCP certified marketers, it

increases productivity, execution

and efficiency. After looking at

the Nokia example and what’s

coming with the fourth Industrial

Revolution, companies need to

be smart about their hiring

decisions and understand how

Sources:

1. “2019 Global Talent Trends.” LinkedIn Talent Solutions. January 28, 2019

2. “The Nielsen CMO Report 2018.” The Nielsen Company. June 6, 2018

3. “Marketing 2025.” Marketo. 2018

4. “Right Brain / Left Brain: Which Will Define The Future Of Marketing?” Forbes. May 2, 2016

5. Doz, Yves. “The Strategic Decisions That Caused Nokia’s Failure.” INSEAD Knowledge. November 23, 2017

6. Vardi, Y., Moshe. “What the Industrial Revolution really tells us about the future of automation and work.”

The Conversation US. September1, 2017

7. “2018 Global Recruiting Trends.” LinkedIn Talent Solutions. January 10, 2018

to train their employees to be ready

for what tomorrow brings. Marketers

need to have soft skills coaching

with hard skills content.

The 21st-century marketer needs

to understand the bottom line of the

business, how to gain the return on

investment and how to incorporate

other channels to develop stronger

marketing campaigns. The marketer

of the future needs to understand

how it all fits together.

Hiring managers are learning to use standard testing to measure

established best practices, and to use interview techniques to ensure

the critical soft skills are evident. With those in place, managers can

invest in training, whether internal or outside, to develop the newest

hard skills for emerging practices.

MICHAEL STEBBINSCHAIRMAN OF OMCP

UNDERSTANDINGWHAT’S NEEDED FOR

YOUR COMPANY

TAKE THE SKILLSASSESSMENT TODAY!

A CUSTOM TRAINING ROADMAP

W H AT T O

L O O K F O R

I N T H E

2 1 S T C E N T U R Y

M A R K E T E R